Fantasy Football Today - Waiver Wire! So Many Great Options for Week 16 (12/22 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 22, 2020

It's an absolutely loaded waiver wire featuring Jalen Hurts, Tony Pollard, Jeff Wilson and possibly Le'Veon Bell among others. Before we get to that, let's talk about those lousy Steelers! Did they cost you a spot in the Fantasy championship? Let's vent! ... Top waiver wire priorities (7:15) with a lot of RBs at the top of the list and several QBs who feel like a safe bet for 20 or more Fantasy Points. And we've got news and notes (17:40) plus the key names at each position: QB (20:44), RB (22:22), WR (23:45), TE (28:15), DST (31:00) and Kicker. Is John Brown the top waiver wire WR? Is it Russell Gage? What if Emmanuel Sanders is available? ... Recapping the Steelers-Browns game (36:10) and then taking a longer look at the waiver wire (40:40) with options at each position for shallow and deep leagues ... Your emails at [e-mail] Do you want to win a prize for the holidays? Go to cbssports.com/happyholidays to enter.  'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the new FFT Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/FFToday Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Want winning picks each morning in under 10 minutes? Subscribe to 'The Early Edge: A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast' on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever else you listen to podcasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. I'll tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races.

Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben. Well, we hope you did not start Ben Roethlisberger. If you did, you're moving on. Congratulations. You're probably one of the few. Welcome to the Week 16.

Yeah, Championship Week. We made it. Waver Wire Show. Not only did we make it, Dave, we've got one of the best Waver Wire Weeks of the year, right? Yeah, I think this would qualify. Just in time for 80% of the people who play fantasy football to

not have the chance to pick up these guys. Yeah, not great timing. Jamie, 0-10? 10. I mean, you have potentially two starting quarterbacks,

four starting caliber running backs. Yes. The receivers aren't exactly great, but they're very good number three receivers and a couple of starting tight ends. So it's pretty exciting. Two really great options in Jalen Hurts and Tony Pollard, especially Pollard if he gets a chance to start

and obviously Hurts based on what he's done. Yeah, and this is the first week where first week in a while where there weren't like 15 wide receivers that I found interesting. So it's oddly kind of weak for wide receivers, but

it's pretty good everywhere else. Well done. Yeah, thank you. Like, you should be running to the running backs, but it's pretty good everywhere else um well done yeah thank you like you should be running to the running backs but it's weak at why it's a weak week ah all right forget it you were you were ahead and then you went back yeah i've been there adam i know what that's like new segment new segment just for today it's called we hate the steelers tell me how the Steelers screwed you in a fantasy matchup. Jay Burleson wrote in and said, Non-PPR, I got talked into playing Juju even though he already won.

Oh, wait. A team in my league. It wasn't him. Oh, okay. Thank goodness, Jay. A team in my league got talked into playing Juju even though he already won. Just in case there was a stat correction. And he lost by.34 because of the fumble.

Oh, my God. That's horrible. Oh, that's terrible. We hate the Steelers for sure. Jamie, IDP League, I thought you had it locked up, man. I did, too. It's funny. I was playing against Jake Sealy of The Athletic.

And he was the two seed. I was the three seed. And he was ahead by 20 points with Tyler Boyd. I had Roethlisberger and Ebron. So obviously the Ebron Boyd was negated because both of them had zero fantasy points with their injuries. So I thought, okay, Roethlisberger, give me a shot. Uh, I was down by eight. Um, when the Steelers were trailing 24, 10, and I thought, okay, he'll get a touchdown in one of these two possessions that they'll get. And the Steelers, I thought would, would end up rallying and potentially tying the game. Uh, so when Benny Snell ran one, I'm like, okay,

we'll get the ball back and he'll throw one in. And, uh, sure enough, they went for an out and the Bengals, uh, pulled off the upset. So yeah, very frustrating for, uh, for me in that league. Congratulations to Jake. But funny scenario, based on the email that you said, I haven't checked. I'm going to go look. But I was up. The team I shared with my brother-in-law,

we were up with only Roethlisberger to go, I think, by 11 points. Hoping there was not some screwy scoring in that league that I don't know. And he said he was actually on, on a trip, him and his family and, and my wife and kids for this weekend. So I called my wife and I was telling her, I was like,

Oh yeah. Tell, tell Kyle, my brother-in-law that we won. And he goes, Oh no, no, don't say anything.

Case Brothers Burger has like negative 11 points. I'm looking to score. Thankfully we won. Oh, okay. He scored eight points, right? I believe so.

Yeah. So yeah. All right, Dave, how about you? Did you, do you hate the Steelers? No, He scored eight points, right? I believe so. Dave, how about you? Do you hate the Steelers? No, I love the Steelers. Oh, you benefit. Love them. Hugs and kisses to the Steel City. The only competitive game that I had left

going into Monday night was against Jamie. It was a half PPR league. Jamie had Deontay Johnson. I had Mike Hilton and Minka Fitzpatrick, and I was up 20, and I finished winning by about 20. You know what's interesting in that one, Dave, because I have Benny Snell. Oh, I know. Thank you.

My team is awesome in this league. It's completely ravaged by injuries this season. Michael Thomas, Kenny Galladay, Christian McCaffrey. This is a 14-team PPR league. This would have been my third time in the finals in four seasons had I beaten Dave. And Dave seems really good. But I was, I was, this was my running backs for this weekend, including Flex. Was Zach Moss, Mike Davis, and Jamal Williams.

Oh, boy. And I really thought, you know, let me take a shot on Benny Snell of one of those guys. But I'm like, you know, Williams will catch a couple passes. It was a favorable matchup. I thought maybe, you know, some garbage time. He would play well. He gets hurt. Obviously doesn't finish the game. Moss wasn't as he played well, but obviously Singletary broke off the run.

Had I played Snell over Jamal Williams, what would the point difference be? I don't think you would have won because Johnson wasn't that great. I don't think Snell was worth 20.5 PPR, was he? Johnson was pretty good yesterday. I still would have fell short. Jamal Williams was

three points and Snell was 18. I'm so glad I won too because I started Kareem Hunt over Tony Pollard and usually when I make a bad decision like that in a playoff game, it bites me. It bit me last week with Miles Sanders going on my bench, and I'm glad I survived.

I guess one other thing that I did consider, Dave, which would have put me ahead, was I was really torn between Traquan Smith and Michael Gallup, and I played Traquan just with the upside of him starting with Michael Thomas. He got hurt too. Not injuries. But at least Gallup scored first. So if you had gone with Gallup, Snell...

If I played Gallup and Snell, which I considered, you would have caught me. Well, thank you. Hey, congrats, Dave. All right, so Dave loves the Steelers. Deontay Johnson and Benny Snell came through. Johnson had eight catches, 59 yards and a touchdown. I'm getting a little tired of people killing Deontay Johnson

for his inefficiency, his yards per catch, whatever. The drops you can kill him for. But, I mean, kill Juju. He played well last night. He did play. He made some tough catches. You got to get on Juju, too. And Ben was terrible. I mean, Roethlisberger was really awful. I guess we'll talk about it a little bit more

later. There's not much more. Do you like how his camp leaked that he's going to play in 2021 when he has a $41 million cap it on the table? Yeah, that was a really bad performance coming off of that report. But okay, anyway, the person who probably hates the Steelers the most is big Steelers

fan Ryan Wilson. Check out the Pick Six podcast. He made a bet with John Breach that he has to get a tattoo that Breach will now design if the Steelers lost to the Bengals, which of course seemed unfathomable, but it happened. And Ryan Wilson is going to have to get a tattoo. And this is pretty amazing. Following on Twitter, it's hysterical. Check out the pick six podcast top waiver wire priorities. Here we go. Jamie, give me give me a

few names. Who are we looking at? Jalen Hurts and Tony Pollard to me are the two stars. Hurts, again, he's got top five upside this week. He's in my top five. I think there's a great opportunity against the Cowboys with what he's shown you as a rusher. We talked about this last week. I was really excited about him last week. He was a starting quarterback for me

in start set, and he was clearly awesome with 43 fantasy points. He's a star and a league winner. And Tony Pollard can be the same thing. You know, he had 12 carries for, what was it, 60 yards? And a touchdown, or 12 carries for whatever yards he had. Six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.

I'm sorry. He had two rushing touchdowns and six catches for 63 yards on nine targets. So he did a great job filling in for Ezekiel Elliott. He's been much more explosive than Elliott. He's dealing with the calf injury and another great matchup against Philadelphia. They've struggled running back so late. So those are the two standouts by far. And then after those guys, I hope Jeff Wilson's healthy.

He's dealing with an ankle injury. He's got a chance to be a starting fantasy running back this week with his matchup against the Cardinals. And the same thing for Savan Ahmed if Myles Gaskin is out. So those would be the top four guys. I think Ahmed shown you enough in the three times that he's played without Gaskin, especially with

this matchup this week against the Raiders. He's got top 12 upside. So hopefully Gaskin sits out one more week. Okay. First of all, let me go back to Pollard. You know, the Eagles do give up a lot of touchdowns, but they have a good run back to Pollard. The Eagles do give up a lot of touchdowns, but they have a good run defense.

And Pollard, he had a 40-yard touchdown run. Dave talked about this on Sunday. He had a 40-yard touchdown run. Other than that, he probably had about 11 carries for like 25 yards. I don't remember the stats right off the top of my head. So I don't know. Are you concerned about that? And then the Eagles are really good against pass-catching running backs.

So there's that. There's also Pollard, Wilson, Ahmed. They all could be number two running backs on their own team. You know, Zeke could be back. You never know with Mostert and Gaskin. I thought we were expecting Gaskin to come back. It's hard to say when they're placed on the COVID list. You know, we don't know.

That's true. So, yeah, I mean, how aggressive? So it's hard. It's hard to say when they're placed on the COVID list. You know, we don't know. That's true. What? So, so yeah, I mean, how aggressive, I guess it's kind of a different question now when there are only two teams left, but Dave,

you know what I'm saying? Like, do you see downside with these running backs? The only, the only downside I see in terms of adding them to your roster, forgetting about like what they could do for your fantasy team is, is if you're if you're debating getting them versus jalen hurts like if you need a quarterback and a running back

maybe you made it to your final with ben roethlisberger and james robinson and now you aren't going to feel good about going with either of those guys how do you prioritize the list and i think you've got to play it really safe here and take the quarterback who you know is going to play versus the running back. And it's for all three of them. I think Pollard would be the starter. I think he showed plenty for the Cowboys to say, okay, we're going to let Zeke rest. He's our future at the position, maybe. Let's just let him rest and let's see what Tony Pollard can do.

And maybe Pollard will be the future at the position. Wilson, good running back, capable of handling the load against Arizona. Let's let Raheem Mostert with his ankle cool off, shut him down maybe for the rest of the season. Same thing with Ahmed and Gaskin if Gaskin isn't ready. But because there's a little bit of uncertainty, especially with the first two guys, Pollard and Wilson,

I would prioritize Hurts first and lock in those fantasy points for the championship game. I saw this stat. It was fascinating on Pollard. This is from an NFL Network producer. Tony Pollard has as many 20-plus yard plays from scrimmage since week nine as Ezekiel Elliott has in his last 345 touches. So going back to last year.

It's alarming. It's alarming. And it's a good sign for Pollard, too. Yeah. And the reason why I feel okay with Pollard, even with that matchup at him, is because of the receptions. And yes, Philadelphia is good against pass-catching running backs.

I still think Andy Dalton will lean on him in the passing game, and there's potential for him to have another five catches. And like you said, Adam, they give up touchdowns. They've allowed a running back to score again at least 100 total yards in six games in a row.

How about they've allowed a touchdown or a running back in all but four games this year? Yeah. So this is Philadelphia we're talking about, and that's who Pollard's playing. But this is a huge game. Every team is still alive in the NFC East, so that makes me feel like if Zeke can

play, they will bring him back. They are not going to just rest him. They're not auditioning for the future right now. They're trying to win the division. Right, but if Pollard is their best player... Yeah, but do you think Jerry Jones is treating it that way?

They are in a tough spot because they lost half games to Washington. If Zeke ends up playing, it's going to happen if Zekans are playing. If Zekans are playing, it's going to be both of them. Yeah. There won't be one guy getting 70% of the snaps. It's going to be both of them

in and out of the lineup. Right. And that wouldn't be good. So I guess, could you make a case that Daryl Henderson is the best waiver wire option? No, because he stinks

every time he gets an opportunity. Well, that's not true. He was pretty good earlier this year. Yeah, but I mean, the sample size from the beginning of the season through the middle to the end until Akers took over was miserable. No, I think it really, he started playing poorly after the Miami game when he hurt

his ankle. I think it was his ankle. And I don't know if he's hurt or not, but he's been pretty bad since then, and Cam Akers has taken the job. But he was a pretty reliable running back. You know what the situation is with Seattle. You've got to score. So if he scores, he'll be okay. He scored against them in the first meeting.

He had seven carries for 28 yards in that game. So, I mean, the track record for me is he's a flex at best. So I think there's much more upside at this point. And look, like Dave said, you know, we're talking about two managers for the most part in every fantasy league. Now there are people that are competing in a consolation game. In some cases, there are leagues that play into week 17. So it's probably a little bit broader than the scope that we're talking to

people here, but for the most part, it's just, you know, winner versus, you know, the two teams playing for the championship. So if you're starting daryl henderson you're probably stuck these other guys though have so much more upside if they get those jobs so if you're looking at henderson versus wilson versus pollard versus you want to throw benny snell in there too obviously with what he showed you last night uh also tough matchup but you know i just think henderson's behind those guys. Okay. And Dave, Benny Snell needs to be mentioned as well. Maybe Conor's back next week, but Snell's been pretty solid

three of the four games where he's gotten a lot of work. What about Le'Veon Bell? He's 73% rostered, I believe. If he is out there, and Pollard, and Wilson, and Ahmed. I'd prioritize him third if you can still get your hands on Le'Veon Bell. I'd rather have Pollard and Wilson, with the exception being that if you just absolutely have to play it safe and you want a guy who you know is going to play and have a good role,

we can say that about Bell on Tuesday morning. The thing about Le'Veon that makes me a little nervous is they are clearly going to the playoffs. They are, I think, locked into the one seat, if I'm not mistaken, after Pittsburgh's loss last night because Buffalo has three losses and Pittsburgh has three losses. I think they have to win this week. Okay, so they have to win this week.

They just saw Edward Solaire go down. They don't know what his status is for the playoffs. Are they going to run Le'Veon Bell into the ground in this game or are they going to mix and match with Darrell Williams for the playoffs. Are they going to run Le'Veon Bell into the ground in this game? Or are they going to mix and match with Darrell Williams? Yes. Knowing that they have to have some semblance of a guy who they can trust, and clearly they trust Bell over Williams.

So I just don't know how much work Bell will get in this game, and maybe even next week at all if they play. So I'd be a little bit cautious about Le'Veon Bell after watching Clyde Edwards-Lear get hurt. And plus, we just saw three weeks ago, Clyde Edwards-Leary was out and Bell stunk, you know? But they've been running the ball a little bit more lately. So that's a good sign.

By the way, Jeff Wilson said he's fine. There are no issues. He did have an injury. So if you take him at his word, that's a great sign. If most are out, then it's a good thing for him, obviously. If you need 20 points from your quarterback this week, you're a little worried, you got Roethlisberger, maybe you're worried about Russell Wilson or something,

maybe Jalen Hurts isn't available. How about this? All these quarterbacks are set up for at least 20 points. Baker Mayfield at the Jets. Six of the last seven quarterbacks to face the Jets have scored 23 or more. That's six points for passing touchdown leagues, by the way. Trubisky against Jacksonville. A quarterback has scored 20 or more against Jacksonville in eight straight games.

Stafford's hard to trust because he's really injured. But Tampa Bay has allowed 19 or more fantasy points to eight straight quarterbacks. And 29 or more to four of their last six. So they've been horrible against quarterbacks lately, the Bucs. And to a tongue of my law, five of the last seven quarterbacks to face the Raiders have scored 21 or more fantasy points. So it's really just loaded at quarterback,

loaded at running back, not bad at tight end and wide receiver. You know, there are always wide receivers. You didn't mention Dalton also, who's got a good matchup as well, given the state of what Philadelphia's secondary looks like. And he scored 20 or more in three of the five starts he's made since coming back.

So we'll give you your news and notes and we'll give you some more waiver wire names. We'll recap that Monday night game. But CBS Sports and Westinghouse are teaming up to give away 10 prizes for the holidays. That's even better than the waiver wire. This is including a curved gaming monitor and a portable power station,

perfect for tailgates. You want one of these gifts, people? Go to cbssports.com slash happy holidays to enter. We'll get the link in the episode description. The contest ends on Christmas on December 25th, so go to cbssports.com slash happy holidays. And Ben, you're going to have to remind me to put the episode link in the description because I know I'm going to forget. On it. Okay. But I'm not going to forget about Twitch tonight at

8 p.m. No, not our last. We're going to do one next week as well, I assume. But Waver Wire Tuesday night. I shouldn't say that. I shouldn't commit to that. Sorry. I have commitment issues anyway. Twitch 8 p., Tuesday night. I shouldn't say that. I shouldn't commit to that. Sorry. I have commitment issues. Anyway, Twitch 8 p.m. tonight. Let's just do that.

No Twitch Thursday, right, Ben? No Twitch Thursday, Twitching Sunday, and then next Tuesday we'll have a season recap. That'll be our final Twitch. There we go. I knew it.

I knew it. All right, so tonight at 8 p.m. we'll see you there. Twitch.com slash FF today. Cam Akers is out for the rest of the regular season with a high ankle sprain. And Ezekiel Elliott might play. James Robinson has an ankle injury.

That's not exactly a situation where we're rushing to grab his backup. Clyde Edwards-Elair, same situation as Cam Akers. Christian McCaffrey could be back this week. Wouldn't that be nice? George Kittle, could he be back this week? Yep, he could. Has a chance.

Oh my gosh, the most loaded waiver wire. 71% rostered. Eric Ebron and Tyler Boyd left early. They did not have catches. Ito Smith is Atlanta's lead running back. Anybody want Ito Smith at Kansas City? Obviously, the Falcons do. I don't know why.

Their other choices absolutely suck. Yeah, he's been the best guy lately. There's no question. Yeah, but their best guy is the worst guy for fantasy. You've got to be super-duper desperate to go with Ito. Okay. Ito. Seattle is going to get Greg Olson back this week.

They could get Josh Gordon this week. Big game against the – huge game against the Rams. Huge. Stephon Gilmore is out for the season. John Brown is a name we haven't mentioned yet, but he could be a very popular waiver wire pickup. And Stephon Diggs hurt his foot. We know that.

We're expecting him to play. Is that true? Yes. Okay. The expectation is yes, but they're going to monitor it. And again, another situation where how much will Buffalo press him if he's not 100% knowing that they're clearly headed for the playoffs? Yeah, but they've got a real chance of that two seed.

Now, I don't know how much that matters. They're not getting a bye anymore with the two seed, but it is a nice thing to have. They are the two seed, aren't they? Oh, I'm sure the two seed matters a lot to them. Are they the two seed right now? I should look at that. Are they the two seed right now?

They are the two seed right now, yes. Yeah, they took over. They are 11-3. Pittsburgh is 11-3, but they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and when the Steelers lose to the Colts this week and the Browns beat the Jets that's going to set up a week 17 showdown right

Browns and Steelers now what happens if the Steelers get ready for the NFL to flex that game what happens if the Steelers win this week and the Browns win because the Steelers beat the Browns earlier so who would get the tiebreaker if the Browns beat the Steelers win this week and the Browns win? Because the Steelers beat the Browns earlier. So who would get the tiebreaker if the Browns beat the Steelers in Week 17?

Do we know? I think the Steelers would have a game advantage on them, right? Well, they're a game up now. So if they both win, they go into Week 17. If the Browns beat the Steelers, they'll finish with the same. What's their divisional record? Who's got the better...

They would both end up at 6-2 in that scenario. No, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm looking at their tiebreaker. The Steelers would have the better record. So I guess that means the Steelers clinch the division if they win this week. Sounds right. Probably. Yes, they do.

They've got to win one more game to clinch the division. Alright, let's go back to the waiver wire. Top three at each position. Let's get some more names out there. Dave Quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts and... Hurts is one, Trubisky is two, Mayfield is three, and you only asked for three, so I won't tell you that Mariota's four.

So you said Mayfield two? No, Trubisky two. Okay, Jamie, how do you order that? Hashtag Jaguars. It is Jalen Hurts one, Baker two, Trubisky 2. Okay. Jamie, how do you order that? Hashtag Jaguars. It is Jalen Hurts 1, Baker 2, Trubisky 3. Do you guys care to have a... And you could have said hashtag Jets for Mayfield. I mean, both of them have really good matchups, but...

Baker is on fire right now. He is absolutely playing out of his mind. Looking like the number one overall pick from a few years ago. Just fantastic performance against the Giants. Obviously, they were down several guys in their secondary, but four straight games of just solid production fantasy-wise and three straight games of just excellent football. He is playing very, very well.

Playing in rhythm, throwing well, good accuracy. But I think Trubisky might have a little bit of a higher ceiling. Because the Jaguars have a better chance of staying in it than the Jets? No, because I think the Bears are willing to throw it either way, and Trubisky will run it a little bit more. You want a prediction? The Jaguars are going to win, and the Jets are going to be so pumped. You want that for the Jets fan in your life. I don't care. I don't really think that's going to happen, but the Jaguars are better than the Jets fan in your life. I don't care. I mean, I don't really think that's going to happen, but the Jaguars are better than the Jets.

They actually might win another game, the Jets. No, the Jaguars are actually smarter than the Jets at this point. They got their win. They realized how stupid it was, and now they're playing their worst quarterback in Gardner-Mitchell. All right, running backs. So we talked about, I don't know how much more we want to get into this, but let's just throw it out there again.

Jamie, the top running back priorities? Tony Pollard is one. Sorry, let's put Le'Veon Bell. Let's say Le'Veon Bell's available and now rank them. Tony Pollard is one. Saman Ahmed is two. Jeff Olsen's three. Le'Veon Bell's four.

Okay. Jeff Olsen's three Le'Veon Bell's four okay and so your big concerns about Bell are the workload I just don't know how much that he'll actually have to play in this game because they typically throw to score they throw to win and they run when they feel like it plus is Le'Veon like good

well I mean Le'Veon just had his best game of the season was 14 ppr points um obviously no edwards hilaire and the falcons run defense has clearly been better since raheem morris has taken over but they have allowed some production the last few weeks they did allow two touchdowns to another retread guy that everybody hates in london fournette so we'll see that's a different offense, different animal. But I just don't know if Le'Veon's going to walk in and get 20-plus touches in this game and have the success I think that people are hoping for.

Yeah, 20-plus touches would be very surprising because Darrell Williams is definitely going to have a role and you just don't often see these running backs getting that much work. All right, wide receivers. Dave, who are the top wide receivers this week? My top wide receiver is Russell Gage, who's given you

good PPR numbers each of the past three weeks. Emmanuel Sanders is right behind him. Hollywood Higgins right behind him. None of these guys would be any better than the lowest of low-end number two fantasy wideouts. Jamie's got a different name atop the list.

Yeah, John Brown for sure for me. I mean, if Diggs is out, then John Brown's in an amazing role. And John Brown was playing great before he got hurt. And now they're taking on a Patriots team without Stephon Gilmore that's clearly packing it in at this point. So if the way that Josh Allen's playing, if you tell me that Stephon Diggs is out and John Brown is in,

he's number one by far and it's not quite. It doesn't sound like that's going to be the case though it sounds like digs is going to be okay i mean you're taking chances with any of these guys i like russell gage a lot i like richard higgins a lot as well but i think if you're taking for the most upside of any of these guys it's john brown by far could you say i really needed a receiver i'm set everywhere else could i wait to pick up john brown because i'm figuring that the one to three other fantasy managers in my league may not be as keen on adding Brown and I can go and get, I mean,

you can, but hold on, or would you rather get Brown first knowing that gauge Sanders Higgins, they're not exactly superstars. You could double back for them later. If Brown ends up not playing or if digs does end up playing there. There's no superstar of this group. Gage has played well, but we know the Chiefs have not given up a lot of fantasy points to receivers all season long. However fluky it may be, it is what it is. Higgins gets the Jets. Great matchup. Will they run? Will they throw? I mean, I think

that's kind of why you're a little down on Baker Mayfield as opposed to starting Trubisky. You said the same thing about Jared Goff last week and asked that back end back to play into proving itself correctly by the Jets performing the way that they did. But I mean, you know, if you think that you can't get John, if you think that you have to get one of those other guys to get

guaranteed production, then sure, don't take John Brown first. But if you're looking for the most upside, I don't see anybody other than John Brown. Well, I think the other thing is John Brown has been really good even when Diggs has played. Diggs has played every game. John Brown, he still could have a really good game. Russell Gage at the Chiefs is very interesting

because the Chiefs have allowed 97 yards or a touchdown to six wide receivers in their last six games. I'm sorry, I'm just not buying that they're good against wide receivers. Yeah, sometimes good wide receivers disappoint, but I'm just not buying it. And those stats I just gave doesn't even include, like, Lynn Bowden, who counts as a running back

in CBS scoring, and he was pretty good against them. And then Emmanuel Sanders, he's... I mean, I think he's a must start when Drew Brees is healthy and Michael Thomas isn't. He's a must start. He had 75 yards

and Drew Brees had a terrible game. And now he's facing Minnesota. I think he's 71% roster. Great opportunity. I mean, he's just not in the range of the guys that we are typically talking about. You don't think he's in the Russell Gage? No, no, no.

He's not in the range of the percentages. Oh, okay, okay, okay. If he's available, sure. Sanders should be first. Like over John Brown? Nah, second. Okay. All right, so those are the prizes, at least.

Just John Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Russell Gage, and Rashard Higgins, who's at the Jets, and the Jets 22nd against wide receivers. And what's the latest on John Brown? Like, is it likely he's going back? He's activated off IR. He was practicing last week, but not off the IR list yet. So he's eligible. It's like the same thing with Kittle.

Okay. So we don't know that he's for sure coming back. There's no guarantee. There's no guarantee he plays. Again, that's why, to me, it's an upside play. If Diggs is out and if he plays, then you're looking at him as a starting wide receiver, where these other guys, to me, aside from Emmanuel Sanders,

are number three receivers. Okay, I just want to check one thing here because I want to see if he's in the projections. He was last week. He was? Yeah. Okay. So if you're looking at wide receiver,

because the reason I bring it up is if John Brown's not in the projections, then he might not get picked up. People might not think to pick him up. And that means maybe you should prioritize Russell Gage or something ahead of him if you're in a CBS league. I'm not seeing him right now.

If it's your title game, you probably have multiple players on your bench that, you know, you're for sure not starting. Right. So you can go and get both of them. And if you want to put Brown first on your waiver wire priority, just so no one else in your league can get them or whatever,

then go ahead. And then you've got two receivers. Then you just start the one who's healthy. All right. Let's go to Jamie. Who are the best tight ends to pick up this week? It's Higby and Hooper for me. You know, you saw both of them score last week.

Both have very good matchups this week. Higby scored in two of his last four, two of his last three. So maybe he's getting hot at the end of the season again, like he did last year. I don't expect it to be the same thing because at this point last year, he was amazing. But taking on a Seattle defense that's really been bad against tight ends, they couldn't stop Logan Thomas last week, so he's in a good spot.

And then Hooper gets the Jets. As we know, they've been miserable against tight ends, including Higby last week. So both guys, if you want to gamble, have good opportunities to beat up on some defenses that have really struggled with tight ends all year long. The Jets are like the Cardinals now. They're that bad against tight ends.

It's really amazing. So you like Higby better than Hooper? I've gone back and forth on both. I think just Higby's a little bit more involved in his offense. Hooper is so touchdown or bust at this point. It would not surprise me if he scores, but that could be two catches for six yards and a touchdown. That's just kind of the stat line that he's been giving you.

And I think it completely helps Higby that Akers is out because if that run game can't get going, they're going to have to lean on other guys to help move the chains, and Higby's a perfect one for that. Yeah, Schrager just got me Tyler Higby's snap count, snap share last three weeks. 83% or more. Three straight weeks.

I believe Everett left last week for... He had a concussion. He was checked for a concussion. He passed the protocol. Yeah, but it doesn't matter. It's three straight weeks. 83, 87, 84% snap share. They are going more to tight ends lately.

But I think some of that is a byproduct of them running the ball more. I'd like to know what his route percentage is. Maybe Schrager can come up with that. He's pretty good at this kind of stuff. All right. We'll see. What about a third guy if I can't get Hooper or Higby?

I look at Aikens. The Bengals have been bad against tight ends for the majority of the season. He just had five targets. So hopefully he has an opportunity here once again, uh, to, you know, be a target, uh, be an option for Deshaun Watson. It's not a great week for, for the guys past those two, because the other option that, that, you know, stands out to me would be, um, would be smith just in case there's a chance. Cause he's out because the Raiders have been bad against tight ends, but in terms of like the guys that are under 65 percent now, obviously, George Kittle should be picked up just in case he starts.

You should still see if Logan Thomas was out there in one of our leagues. I was shocked. Our magazine league, Logan Thomas, is still available last week. So people may have dropped Noah Fant as well. Coming off a strong game, great matchup this week against Chargers. So there are some guys that could be available in terms of that range. But in terms of the range that we simply talk about, to me, it's Higby, Hooper, and really nobody else. Dave, do we like any streaming DSTs this week?

The Cardinals are my favorite of the ones that are available in more than 40% of CBS leagues. If the Bears are still out there, then you can grab them. They're available in 38%. But Cardinals, I'll take the chance on the Texans against this Bengals offense. Chargers, Panthers, Arizona is my favorite against the 49ers, especially if there's no

Mullins under center. Right, and that's a possibility. It might be better if Mullins is under center. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah, very turnover. But I'll take the Cardinals either way. 49ers are giving up tons of points to opposing DSTs.

Are there any DSTs that we'd normally start that we would start, say, the Bears or the or the Cardinals over? Yeah. Steelers against the Colts. You'd start the Bears. And would you start the Cardinals over the Steelers? Yep. I would. Interesting.

What about the Rams? I'd start the Texans over the Steelers, too. What about the Rams at Seattle? I've got the Rams one spot behind the Steelers, and I've got the Texans behind them. So Cardinals or Rams? Sorry. Cardinals.

Bears or Rams? Bears. Bears. And who do you like better? Bears, Cardinals, Steelers, Rams for me. Sounds like. Bears or Rams? Bears. And who do you like better? Bears, Cardinals, Steelers, Rams for me. Sounds like Jamie likes the Rams over the Steelers. Yes. What about Seahawks? Well behind them.

Not too far behind them, but behind them. Okay. It'd be interesting to see what the Seahawks, they've had such an easy schedule lately, see what they do against the Rams. I wish they would flex that game. Tennessee at Green Bay is pretty good for Sunday night. That's not bad. That's actually

awesome. That's a great game. Should be fun. Teams are really stepping up now. Tennessee is looking great. There's going to be people who check their fantasy scores going into Sunday night and they're like, yes, I'm up 15. Then they look and they see they're playing against Derrick Henry and Aaron Rodgers. I was up.

I was down. Excuse me. I was down in a league that's PPR with very heavy scoring for DSTs. I was down 100 points going into the four o'clock games on Sunday. And I guess we had Jalen Hurts. I had Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, DeAndre Hopkins, and Travis Kelsey. But I was against the Rams defense. This was, this was factoring in the a hundred points. We start with 25 points on defensive scoring. And I'm like, there's no chance the Rams are going to slaughter the jets. I'm done. And so I didn't look, uh, through the first half. Now, obviously I'm watching the game. So I'm

seeing Hurts, you know, do well. I saw Kelsey score. I hopkins is doing okay um and so half time i check and at that point i cut it to 50 and so i'm like okay maybe i got a shot if if this keeps up there's no way hurt's going to keep doing this and you know hopkins hadn't scored at that point um and kelsey it kind of petered off a little bit and then i check again after the third quarter and now i cut it to 20 and so now i'm texting with the guy and i said man this is a great and we're we're clearly like the the semi-final off the charts the other one is much more low scoring we both would have won easy and so i'm texting with him this is uh brett tresky dave it's a bt yeah uh former sports sports former sports line employee from way back in the day um so texting with him he's like oh're going to catch me this is awful and I ended up beating him by 20

wow what a nightmare after Hopkins had the long reception I forget how long it was but down the left sideline he texted me he goes congrats that's going to eat at him for months he choked man

he should feel really bad about that 100 points I was like, oh my God, I'm getting destroyed. That's awesome. Any kickers to pick up? Yeah, Ryan Suckup, because a lot of people dropped him. Detroit gives up a lot of production to kickers. If you're willing to risk it, Cody

Parkey. Jets, I think, are number one in fantasy points. A lot of kickers, at least they were last week. And Fairbairn taking on the Bengals. Home game. You don't have to worry about weather. And Fairbairn taking on the Bengals, home game. You don't have to worry about weather. And you know that the Texans offense will probably move the ball against the Cincinnati defense. Cool. All right, we'll take a break.

When we come back, Cincinnati 27, Pittsburgh 17, and then more waiver wire debates for you here on Fantasy Football Today. If we have time, I'll try to read some emails as well. We'll be right back. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows.

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Cincinnati with a 10-point win over Pittsburgh. I think it dawned on me... I don't know. I still kind of felt like at halftime that the Stieglers were going to win. I thought they were for sure going to win when they came out on fire in the third quarter. Yeah, when Deontay Johnson called the touchdown,

I was like, okay, it's over. They were so bad yesterday. They were so bad yesterday. They were so bad. But you never count out Ryan Finley's rushing abilities. Their defense is so beaten up, Pittsburgh. Yep. It's, you know, like going into week 16 when I saw a few of my championship teams, I thought it was going to be like, oh, well, John Taylor's going to have a good game,

but not a great game. And then they lost another linebacker. my championship teams. I thought it was when I'm like, Oh, well, John Taylor is going to have a good game, but not a great game. And then they lost another linebacker. And it's just like, they're, they can't stop anybody against the room. Well, I mean, to be fair,

they did pretty well against the G 25 carries for 83 yards, but he had, he scored two touchdowns. Let's talk about Giovanni Bernard. Cause he might be available. Yes. Let's talk about him. You guys do it.

He got all the work and he's at Houston this week. That's a tremendous matchup. Come on. No, let's not. Yes, let's talk about him. You guys do it. He got all the work, and he's at Houston this week. That's a tremendous matchup. Come on. Talk about it. You don't have to love him, but you have to talk about him. He's in the flex conversation. I would take all the guys that we're talking about here over him, including Benny Snell, including Daryl Henderson.

Guys that have a little bit tougher matchups because at least you know their workloads will be consistent. There's also a chance he'll make some money back. He returned to practice last week. You don't think Giovanni Bernard is going that have a little bit tougher matchups, because at least you know their workloads will be consistent. There's also a chance Joe Mixon will be back. He returned to practice last week. You don't think Giovanni Bernard is going to have a bigger role than Daryl Henderson? He probably will. But Mixon returned to practice last week.

If they decide to play him, who knows? I just don't want to trust the Bengals. That's kind of what it comes down to. I'm sure Dave probably feels the same way. You know, Bernard is just a guy who's let us down more times than not. This was a very surprise performance, you know, for the Bengals, obviously, but for Bernard mostly. And part of it is I think them playing with the lead helped.

I don't think they're going to be playing with the lead against the Texans, even though the Texans aren't great. Yeah, it was definitely a surprise performance. And not trusting the Bengals is a good fantasy strategy. How about, Dave, how about trusting the Steelers? How many of them are you going to trust this week against the Colts? I'm okay with Snell if Conner doesn't play. It sounds like there's a chance Conner could play.

So you got to keep an eye on that, and you just got to wait and see. Deontay Johnson is clearly Ben Roethlisberger's favorite receiver. Look at the targets. Even last week when he was benched for almost two quarters, he still had seven targets in the game. So he's an easy start, especially in PPR. Having guts to start Juju or Claypool at this point, though,

could be a little bit tougher. I guess Juju you could probably make the case for as a low-end number two receiver, and Claypool is a boom-bust flex. All right. And that's the end of that chapter. There were so many good movies on last night. I will say, though, I'm flex. All right. And that's the end of that chapter. There were so many good movies on last night. So that's why I hate the Steelers.

Higgins and Boyd. I'm sorry, Higgins and A.J. Green. If you're completely stuck, Higgins obviously is the better of the two by far. But if Boyd's out with a concussion, that's a miserable secondary that they're playing and probably chasing points. And so, you know, if you're desperate for a number three receiver

in deeper leagues or a flex option, I would look at Higgins if he was dropped and even AJ Green if you're stuck. Okay, I was about to talk about movies

and you brought it back to fantasy football. That's ridiculous. But no, this is my I hate the Steelers. I just really wanted to watch The Dark Knight Rises because I can't,

I cannot not watch. If that movie is on, I have to watch it. Dubain. No. But I just, it's is on, I have to watch it. Do Bane. No. It's just so gripping. I'm going to set you up. You are a fantasy manager.

You're a fantasy manager. I can't do it anymore. I cannot do impressions anymore. That's why it's good. I've been working on my Elmo. You listen and you do what I tell you. You're a fantasy manager. Jamie talking to adam like he talks to his kids do you feel like you're in charge yes there you go you're a fancy manager in your bane and you're staring across at the stealers who are batman in the in the dungeon and whatever it was yeah yeah and I dude I can't do it

yeah but I was I can't I can't do it I just I'm not comfortable you know what might bring you back is if you just the line that you say I can't do it I was wondering I can't get there no I can't do it anymore I'm sorry I can't say I was wondering I was

wondering what would break first big Ben Roethlisberger your spirit I can't do it I just like I was wondering what would break first, big Ben Roethlisberger. Spirit, I can't do it. I don't have it anymore. I used to be good at impressions. I'm just not good anymore. Somebody shattered your confidence. No, it's me.

I can't do it anymore. What do you think about my Elmo? Oh, this is going to hurt. I can't do it anymore. Now I'm just nervous about Elmo. But I've been doing a lot of Elmo, and it going to hurt. I can't do it anymore. Now I'm just nervous about Elmo. But I've been doing a lot of Elmo, and it's pretty good. I have a pretty good cookie monster as well. I have too.

That's my life now. My son bought a bunch of Oreos, and they're half gone because of me. All right, waiver wire. Drew Brees. If Drew Brees is available, are you picking him up or Hertz? Is Hertz ahead of everyone? Hurts is ahead of everyone. Yes.

All right. Is Hurts top five this week for you? Yes. I currently have him fifth. He may fall as far as seventh. Okay. So then let's do Drew Brees versus either Baker Mayfield or Mitchell Trubisky.

Who would you go with? Brees. I currently have Brees Mayfield or Mitchell Trubisky. Who would you go with? Brees. I currently have Brees one spot ahead of Trubisky and three spots ahead of Mayfield. How many of them would you start? Oh, I'm sorry. How many of them would you start over Russell Wilson? I would start Hurts and I would start Brees and I'm considering Baker. I've got Hurts, Brees, and Mitch all ahead of Russ Wilson and I'm considering Baker. I've got Hurts, Breeze, and Mitch all ahead of Russ Wilson

and I'm considering Baker over Russell Wilson too. Where do you have Wilson? Right now, see what the number is. The number for me is 13. Lucky 13. Now I'm about to sing the number of the day song from Sesame Street. All right, what if Phillip Rivers is available at Pittsburgh?

Any interest? No. Tua Tungavailoa. He just doesn't throw a lot, but you know the Raiders stink. So thoughts on Tua? If he gets his guys back, he's much more interesting if Koseki and Parker play. But like you said, they should be able to win this game with mario down the other side and i think this is a uh uh not a huge game for tua but a game if you're stuck and you need a fantasy quarterback then he's okay in that regard tua or rothlisberger because that i'm i'm going

i've got rothlisberger higher that's what i'm going to look at this week so that's how far rothlisberger is falling for me yeah what about Andy Dalton or Roethlisberger Dalton I have Roethlisberger I'll probably stick with that okay so is Roethlisberger um are your rankings updated right now? Mine are not. They are not. Okay, then never mind. All right, so Mariota is also an option. You know, the Dolphins are really good. They're fourth best against quarterbacks. Mariota was fantastic last week, but hard to expect that.

But that's who you're turning to if you're in a deeper league. And Hertz was already picked up. Trubisky and Mayfield were already picked up. This is who's left is Mariota. Yeah, I would take Dalton over him. I would take two over him. Like you said,

Adam, they've been amazing against quarterbacks in their last five games, six games, excuse me, only one quarterback over 11 fantasy points. And that was my homes who had 21. So, you know,

down Renfro already it's a down rugs. if he's not able to play um I don't think there's there's much Mariota can do in this matchup where do you anticipate ranking Matthew Stafford if he plays against Tampa Bay still low not top 12 but ahead of Romney's burger he's just he's just too much of a liability to leave the game early. Just so injured. What about Gardner Minshew? You know, why not? Because they stink? He's like a solid 20-ish.

He scored 19 points against Baltimore. That's not bad. He scored 22 or more points in five of seven starts. And the Bears, they're not that good against quarterbacks. So not, not,

not interested. All right. Do you mean in two quarterback or super flex leagues, you're starting Gardner Minshew in one quarterback leagues. If you got this far, I'd rather play Mariota. I feel like Andy Dalton is like safe for 18 to 21. So he's been right around that pretty much each of the last three or four

games. Right. I kind of think Minshew does have a little bit more upside than Dalton this week. All righty. Let's go to the running backs. If you see Zach Moss, how would you feel about that?

Dave Richard? I'd say, Hey Zach, what's up? Yeah. Dab him up. See if he wants to go get, you know,

bite to eat or something like that. Cause I'm always eating. Oh, you're're talking fantasy yeah i i think he's like number three running back not somebody i'd be super excited about if i could take a total detour here thinking about dave seeing someone you uh had a very nice tweet about kevin green and i did yeah would you like to share sure uh kevin green came to one of our fantasy football shows he was a guest he was a speaker there back when we were doing fantasy shows jamie loved those um like four or five a year and uh he loved football and he even loved like sitting in front of a bunch of dudes and some sports bar in Miami, a hundred dudes talking football and was coaching them up on, you know,

the differences between three, four and four, three. And you know, what, what he looks for in a good defense, stuff like that. But he was totally engaged and into it and smiling and taking pictures with fans. And like for a day, I got to know Kevin green a little bit. And it was exciting because i watched this maniac play on sundays when i was a kid and uh fast forward to going to the hall of fame two years ago for the king of classic draft and his bust is unlike any other bust because of his hair and it just it stands out when you're in the gallery of heroes.

So it was cool to meet him, cool to know him for the day. And I'm really sad. He's gone. He was, he was somebody that made a difference in, in pro football. What I didn't realize is that he only played three years with the Steelers.

In my mind, he's like a lifetime Steeler. We actually played most of his career with the Rams finished with the Panthers, but yeah, hall of fame, linebacker, career with the Rams, finished with the Panthers. But yeah, Hall of Fame linebacker Kevin Green. Very sad to see the news yesterday. That was a good story. 58, man. That's too young. Yeah, terrible.

All right. He was also a good wrestler. Yeah, that's right. Wrestled in WCW. Had a match with Steve McMichael that got a lot of attention. He lived a life, man. He lived a life. He should have lived a lot more it's sad he's gone

as far as the other running backs go you know Sonny Michel if you know against Buffalo if Damian Harris is out would you rather have Sonny Michel or

yes the other guy Daryl Henderson Henderson it's close to non-PBR though I agree but I'd still rather have Henderson. If we're in a deep league,

Jarek McKinnon, Darrell Williams, who's better? I think I'd take Williams. I'd take the upside of Darrell Williams. Unless, you know, Wilson's out. I will go back to Moss for a second, though, because you've seen what New England's run defense has been the last two weeks.

And the last time these two teams met, he went for 81 yards and two touchdowns against them. So you could do worse than Zach Moss this week. How about the Jaguars? You can do Sonny Michel. How about the Jaguars running backs and Frank Gore going up against Cleveland? It's honestly been three pretty good games recently for Frank Gore and a ton of work.

What's that? I'd go Gore over a Jaguars running back. Yeah. But would you go Gore over Daryl Henderson? No. Nope. Okay. And we're not interested in Nito Smith.

All right. No. Wide receivers. So let's take a look at the guys who might be available in your leagues, but they are rostered in more than 65% of leagues. And tell me who you like. Tell me how much you like them. Zero to 10 on the Atometer.

T. Higgins going up against Houston. Six. Five. Curtis Samuel at Washington. Six. Five. Marquise Brown against the Giants. Seven.

Sounds good. Nelson Aguilar against the Dolphins. Six. 3.7. Yeah, without Mariota. I don't know. It's not as good. Or with Mariota.

Without, yeah, without Carr. Without Carr, with Mariota. Nobody else to throw to besides Waller. He got eight targets. Mariota's cool with that, apparently. Yeah, he still got eight targets against the Chargers. Just wasn't good with them. Emmanuel Sanders going up against Minnesota on Christmas.

Seven. Jamie, did you say a number? Nine. Nine. Kiki Cutie against the Bengals. Eight. 6.8. All right.

So it sounds like Sanders, Marquise Brown, and Kiki Cutie are our favorites there. Marquise Brown's been on fire. Three straight games with a touchdown. Then he didn't have one last week, but he had 98 yards against Jacksonville. It's not an easy matchup per se, but I doubt he will be shadowed by James Bradbury. So, yeah,

he's looking good right now, finishing strong. Going to give us a lot to think about going into 2021, that's for sure. Other than that, we got John Brown. We got Russell Gage. We've got Lynn Bowden and Chad Hanson. They've been good. Jamie, how do you feel about Bowden and Hanson?

If there's no Parker, Gusecki, or Grant, I love Lynn Bowden this week because the Raiders stink. And so it's a great opportunity for him. Much easier matchup than he had last week. So, you know, flex because he could play running back as well. So keep that in mind if you're stuck at running back too. But the nice thing is you'll know about the Dolphins status earlier because their game is on Saturday.

So you have to make decisions for any of your teams on Sunday. All right. Talk to me about the Washington game in Carolina. If I have Robbie Anderson, am I starting Russell Gage? Am I starting John Brown? Am I starting Chad Hansen over Robbie Anderson? I think the first two you should, if Brown plays, especially if Diggs is out, and then Gage as well.

Dave, if I have Tyler Lockett, what am I doing this week? You can consider other options, but I'd probably just suck it up with Lockett. I'm sorry, the correct answer is you are sitting out and watching football because you are no longer in the fantasy playoffs. You could build a team and still have Tyler Lockett on it and play. I advanced in a couple

leagues with Lockett. No, I'm just kidding. But Lockett against the Rams, I mean, oh boy, he's been bad for most of the last 10 or 11 weeks. Sure, but if Wilson's going to be sensitive throwing at Jalen Ramsey, and if Ramsey's on DK Metcalf,

that should mean a lot of targets for Lockett. What did he do last time? I don't remember. I don't think it was very good. It wasn't an Arizona game. I know that. Let's see. Let's check the old game log here.

What was it? 5 for 66. I don't like it. That's one of his better games recently. See? Good old 11 PPR points. Give yourself the option. He did have nine targets.

He had nine targets, right. If the Eagles are going to... If Jalen Hurts is going to be our top quarterback, obviously he's going to run, but the Cowboys have given up 92 yards or a touchdown to a wide receiver in every game. Who's it going to be, Jamie, for the Eagles? Well, Jalen Rager's hurt, so you got to keep an eye on that if he doesn't play.

And Rager led them in targets last week, so then it becomes the mess of Greg Ward, Quez Watkins, and Alshon Jeffrey. I would probably lean toward Ward just because he had the two touchdowns, and the targets were basically the same. It was like five or six for each of those guys so i would just prioritize ward if you're uh if you're in a deeper league and then maybe look at jeffrey and watkins as well but uh he seems to have a connection with ward who he also threw a touchdown too and uh i believe the game we came in for wentz two weeks ago yes that's true um and i agree with you but i did notice that alshon was getting a couple of like more than a couple. I think it was like three or four deep ball targets where he's just running a sideline go route and drew up defensive pass interference on one caught another one.

So there's there's appeal with Alshon there, too. Not that I would want to start him. He would be behind Ward for me. Darnell Mooney is a deep league option. Jaguars are terrible against wide receivers. Sure is. And then I got to ask you about Kendrick Bourne. Richie James got hurt, and Bourne only had four targets,

but he caught all of them for 86 yards in the touchdown. Bourne had a Hail Mary on the last play of the game. That is true. A Hail Mary catch on the last play. Kind of pumped up his stats. But no, it's really the Richie James injury. And who is an injury? If Kittle doesn't play, if Richie James doesn't play. You might get 10 PPR points out of pumped up his stats. But no, it's really the Richie James injury. And who is an injury? If Kittle doesn't play, if Richie James doesn't play...

You might get 10 PPR points out of Kendrick Bourne. Okay. Well, I thought we had to say his name. I'm glad we did. Tight ends. Now, roster percentages are just so weird this time of year. I can't imagine there are too many leagues where Mike Kosicki and Logan Thomas and Noah Fant are available,

but Jamie just said Logan Thomas was available last week, and he's coming off a great, in one of his leagues, he's coming off a 13-catch, 101-yard performance, so how do you sit him? Panthers have been horrible against tight ends lately. Gasicki would obviously be a good start

at Las Vegas. How would you feel about Noah Fant at the Chargers this week? They've allowed 10 touchdowns to tight ends at third most in the NFL. Noah, thank you. I was wondering where you were going with that. He's top 12. He is, especially in PPR. It was good to see him involved last week.

And Drew Locke was looking for him. His matchup's good, like you said. So you can buy back in. Yeah, he had seven catches for 47 yards in the first meeting against the Chargers. We like Higby and Hooper. If you can't get them, you look at Jordan Aikens. And Jamie mentioned Durham Smythe for the Dolphins

if Gasicki's out. What about the guys who were the flavor of the week last week? Cole Komet at Jacksonville, Irv Smith at New Orleans. Any interest there? Okay. The thing that concerns me about, and you could obviously make the case with Baker, but with Trubisky, I mean, they're actually running the ball. And that's, you know, last week, 32 carries for David Montgomery was amazing.

I can see him doing the same thing this week. Yeah. Dawson Knox, Dan Arnold. Knox is at New England. Dan Arnold has San Francisco. Both those teams are great against tight ends. Are they sits? No, thanks.

Noah, thank you. Yeah, I mean, I think at this point, it's kind of like I said, it's Hooper or Higby if those guys are available. And then you're just kind of crossing your fingers with some of these other guys if you're stuck. Like Irv Smith might be interesting again if you want to take that chance to go that route with him.

But the fact that they didn't feature him more was a little frustrating. Yeah, Conklin had too much work there. And there's one more guy, Zach Ertz. Zach Ertz had seven targets, two catches, 69 yards. He's facing Dallas. They've been a lot better against tight ends lately. But what's your interest level on Ertz?

65% rostered. Dave? Not very high. He had a couple of big catches last week, but I don't think he's ever going to get back to that main target role in Philadelphia. I should probably put him third. He'd be better than Aikens.

Anybody would be better than Aikens. Well, Aikens gets end zone. Aikens keeps dropping touchdowns. He dropped two against the Lions. He dropped one against the Bears. We'd probably be thinking about him a lot differently if he caught those. And Jared Cook is also something. Like, Ertz or Cook?

Cook. All right. Cook, Ertz. All right. DSTs, Bears, Texans, Cardinals. Bears are at the Jaguars. Texans get the Bengals. This one really makes me nervous, Bears, Texans, Cardinals. Bears are at the Jaguars. Texans get the Bengals. This one really makes me nervous, though,

because Houston has been so bad all year. They were bad against the Jaguars. They were bad against the Patriots. They were bad at the Bears. They were good one time against the Jaguars. But I don't know. How do you balance this? I know it's a great matchup.

But, man, there's such a bad defense in Texans. Alright, well, you have to think about it. And then the Cardinals. Dave likes the Cardinals a lot. They've been good in three of their last four games. They have 14 sacks in their last two games against the Giants and Eagles. And the Niners have been a very good matchup lately. Ryan Suckup,

Cody Parkey, Kaimi Fairbairn are your kickers. We have a little bit of time. I'm going to read some emails, guys, if you wouldn't mind. I was not prepared for this, so just give me a moment. Let me get those emails out. Please read in a Bane voice.

Please read in a Bane voice. Please read in a Bane voice. So how are you guys doing? How are you feeling today? I'm feeling good. Cool. All right. Just need like...

Okay, here we go from christopher uh all right jeff wilson this ppr jeff wilson tony pollard and jared and jd mckissick pick two in ppr wilson pollard mckissick pollard wilson mckissick okay i might put in ppr i'd probably put when i put m McKissick. Okay. In PPR, I'd probably put... Would I put McKissick over Wilson? Pollard would for sure be there. I think I'd do it. Okay.

And a DST. Rams, Browns, Cardinals, Bills. Browns. Browns. Browns. Yeah. Okay. Just like you knew it was going to be at the beginning of the year.

Let's see what else we got. From Ryan. All right. Ryan from the home of the Walleye and Mudhens. So, Toledo? Yes. That sounds right. My 20-plus year CBS League has used the highest scoring teams advancing to the next round so Toledo yes that sounds right my 20 year my 20 plus

year CBS League has used the highest scoring teams advancing to the next round in all playoff weeks I think I like that I think I like that happened to me this week I was the second highest scoring team and I'm not moving on um as Chris stated on Monday's show that

that should be considered as an option for leagues no Chris I said that. That's me, baby. What did Chris say? I don't remember what Chris said. I think Chris and Ben were anti. Maybe, Ben, you were there. You were paying attention.

What did Chris say? Chris liked it. I'm against it. It's not how any playoff system works in any competition you'll ever see. If your fantasy league is points scored and you're not playing head-to-head each week, then that's how your playoff should be. But if you're playing head-to-head

each week like a normal fantasy league, then so should your playoffs. Okay. All right. There wasn't really a question there. Just that comment from Matt in Toronto. No, I don't want to read this one. See, this is what happens when I don't prepare. I'm going to save this one for a later date

it's the question is what is your dream league setup I want some starter sits right now let's see if this is starter sit okay here we go this is from Travis in city in mid Michigan Dave oh god mid Michigan I don't know if I can come up with anything so let's just go with Grand Rapids

which is definitely not mid Michigan dear Brian Kirk, and Connor. I don't know. Are those Michigan State quarterbacks or something? Could be. Maybe. Wilson or Tannehill? I think it is.

You get.2 points for passing first down. Yeah, Tannehill. Andrews or Hawkinson? Half PPR. Andrewhill. Andrews or Hawkinson? Half PPR. Andrews. Hilton, Parker, DJ Moore. I think Moore is who I'm going to take of the three. Hopefully, you can start Hilton, too.

Travis is playing his girlfriend, so big, big week for him. So, he's going to lose either way. One more from BT. Nope, this is not a question. Tonight I was down by 8.32 points with the Browns defense left to play. I didn't get it until the last minute

of the fourth quarter with a sack. The final was 162.54 to 161.86. Damn! One on a sack in the last minute. That's awesome. Congratulations to BT. That is big time, BT. That's it for us. For Dave, Jamie, and Ben, I'm Adam.

Thanks a lot for listening. The Browns rewarded people this week, but left them disappointed the week before. Refresh my memory. Yeah. They, the safety at the end of the game.

Oh, that's stupid. Yeah. Oh, I remember now I do. Now that you reminded me, I remember. All right.

That's it, everybody. Thanks a lot. We'll talk to you on Twitch tonight. We'll talk to you tomorrow with a little dynasty talk, a little tough call for Week 16 talk. You know the drill. See you then.

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